Editorial: Success saving teen lives good, but not enough

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, October 19, 2017

Getting a driver’s license is one of the first, and most lasting, rites of passage for teens.

It’s one that demands the most responsibility, as well.

There are encouraging signs that teens, with some help from changes in the licensing process, are paying attention.

The number of Illinois teenage drivers dying in car crashes — 76 last year — is about half of what it was a decade ago, according to statistics released this week by the Illinois secretary of state’s office.

That time frame is significant because it has been almost 10 years since Illinois put a graduated license system in place.

Unlike in generations past, when getting a license essentially meant a 16-year-old could hit the road unrestricted, the graduated license system recognizes the driving process involves a learning curve that cannot be taught through books or in a classroom. It basically eases young drivers into building real-time skills to take them from an initial licensing phase to becoming a fully licensed driver. It enforces an additional 50 hours of practice driving —including 10 hours at night —and prohibits some of the most common risk factors, such as using cellphones or having more than one non-family passenger. It also restricts the hours a teen can be on the road to before 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends or after 6 a.m. any day. Violating the program can mean a lengthy delay in getting a license.

The idea was not always without its detractors.

“When I first assembled the Teen Driver Safety Task Force, we knew we faced a difficult task,” Secretary of State Jesse White said. “I am pleased this law is working as we intended. The goal has always been to save lives. We worked hard to strengthen our GDL program and make it one of the best in the nation.”

Although there are other factors that deserve some of the credit for the impressive change, key among them that more teens are waiting a few years before getting their licenses, that shouldn’t diminish the role Illinois played in being at the forefront of adapting a sensible approach to teen driving.

There is still room to improve. Vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for teenagers, claiming more than 3,500 lives in 2016, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Roughly 60 percent of those fatal accidents involved a teen being distracted while behind the wheel; about a quarter involved teens who had been drinking.

Parents should take an active role in helping to set a tone of reverence behind the wheel. There is no such thing as having too many conversations about the dangers of distracted and impaired driving — as well as practicing what is being preached.